Ronin
by TheSenjuMan
Summary: AU of Kubo's final battle. What if the final battle didn't go the way it was supposed to? What if Kubo's tale didn't come to an end?
1. Ichi

**I finally saw Kubo and the Two Strings over the weekend, and it was awesome! Enjoy everyone!**

* * *

 _I. The Beginning_

The entire village held their eyes on the young story-teller. "He's coming," Kubo told them, prompting the villagers, Kameyo especially, to turn away and try to hide, all the while holding expressions of worry for the young boy. As Kubo prepared himself for the inevitable confrontation, the Helmet Invulnerable, along with the breastplate, and the sword glowed, radiating an aura of authority and power.

"Grandfather!" Kubo called out, unsheathing the Sword Unbreakable and peering in all directions. "It's me, Kubo! I know you can hear me!"

Kubo looked in front of himself and saw the image of a far older man, glowing blue and seeming not of the Earth materialize in front of him. "So good to see you at last," the Moon King, Raiden said, his tone condescending. His chuckles were ominous. "So to speak."

Kubo's one eye narrowed at the Moon King; the memories of what had occurred throughout his journey all rushing to him: his mother's sickness, death, the death of his mother a second time, and the revelation that Beetle was actually a reincarnated form of his father Hanzo. The young samurai picked up a rock.

"Seems your mother had reason to bring you to this dreadful place after all," Raiden commented, sauntering closer to Kubo. The boy launched the rock at him and Raiden caught it without effort. "I see," Raiden growled, crushing the rock as if it was paper.

"I know why you're here!" Kubo began, holding the Sword Unbreakable in front of him. "You finally saw me. That was my fault, I should've listened to my parents."

"Kubo, you and I both want the same thing."

"You want my other eye! And I know why: because you are old, and mean, and cruel."

Raiden frowned at the boy's declaration. "Come now, let us not dissolve into petty insults." The god paced around Kubo. "You see, as long as you cling to that silly little eye, you cannot ascend to me." Raiden then stopped in front of Kubo.

"You'll be stuck down here, in this hell, staring at all the hate, all the heartache, all the suffering, all the death!" The Moon King smiled at his grandson. "Where I want to take you, there is none of that."

"You've got it all wrong!" Kubo exclaimed. "There's good people down here. People with happy, fulfilling lives!"

"Only a cynical person would call what these people have 'lives'," Raiden sneered. "I can reunite you with your family."

"My family is gone! And you killed them!"

"Bah," the Moon King growled, waving his hand in dismissal. "They brought their fates on themselves! They disgraced me, they upset the natural order of things!"

"That is how your story goes," Kubo replied.

"And how do you suppose your story ends? By killing me?" Raiden advanced on Kubo, pushing the young boy back even with the Sword Unbreakable blocking him. "Is that your wish? To do battle with a hideous monster who ruined your life? To prove your worth, like your foolish father?!"

The Moon King's human form began crackling like the ground during a massive earthquake. "So be it!" At this declaration, Kubo witnessed his grandfather transform into a giant, dragon-like creature, flying around in the sky, before the dragon began flying toward him.

Kubo scowled in determination and ran at his grandfather with a battle cry, sliding under the belly of the beast and slicing him with the Sword Unbreakable, making the Moon King roar in pain and anger; as Kubo slid to the other side, he could see Raiden flying back up into the sky to once again strike down at him. Kubo ran and jumped as the Moon Dragon advanced toward him, managing to slice his mouth.

Raiden, seething in pain, whipped his tail at his grandson, slashing him in the back and sending him crashing to the ground. Kubo quickly got back up, ignoring the searing pain in his back, and attempted to once again jump at Raiden, before he was grabbed.

"You want to be human?!" Raiden began as he removed the Helmet Invulnerable from Kubo's head. "Then share their weakness! Suffer the humiliation!" He squeezed Kubo to the point where the boy nearly lost consciousness. "FEEL THEIR PAIN!"

With this, he flung Kubo into the forest, near the cemetery, sending the boy flying through the air before he was stopped by hitting the ground. The Sword Unbreakable planted itself in the ground when Kubo crashed. When the samurai recovered, he grabbed toward the famous sword before coming to a halt; is this how he wanted to his story to end? Using violence and vengeance to right the wrongs inflicted on him? Would it bring back his family?

Then, Kubo's thoughts came to something else. "Memories," he whispered to himself. If there was anything he learned during his journey, and his short time with his mother, is that the preservation of memories was the most powerful thing one could possess.

Kubo heard the low-pitched growls of his grandfather slowly approaching. He grabbed his sword, but decided to re-sheath it instead; he picked up his shamisen and glanced at his wrist. "This is for you mother. You also, father." The strings, not strings, but the last remaining remnants of his parents, were strung onto the shamisen, but then Kubo realized that he was missing one string, so he plucked one of his hairs out of his ponytail and strung it on also.

"Hahahaha!" Raiden laughed as he approached Kubo. "Take one last look with that lonely eye this wretched place you call home!"

"I will not leave," Kubo said quietly. "I know why you want my eye! Because without it, I can't look into the soul of another, to see their love-"

"EVERYTHING YOU LOVED IS GONE!" Raiden bellowed, baring his teeth at the boy. "TAKEN FROM YOU!"

Kubo began playing the notes of his shamisen with the newly attached strings. "If you must blink, do it now." As he strummed out the last note, a wave of magic spread all over the cemetery. Raiden could see the bright lights swarming Kubo, the souls of the departed come to fruition.

"You say everything I love is gone? That's where you're wrong, grandfather. It is my memory; they exist in my memory, the most powerful magic there is!"

Raiden growled at the frustration at seeing the power which his mortal grandson possessed.

Kubo gestured to the souls of the departed that surrounded him. "This! This is what makes us stronger than you'll ever be!" As Kubo spoke, the villagers who were hiding throughout the duration of the battle stepped out, also gathering around Kubo. "These are the memories of those we have loved and lost! And.." Kubo paused, letting a tear roll down his one eye. "And if we hold onto their stories deep in our hearts, then you can never hope to take that from us!" The next note that Kubo strummed sent a wave of magic that hit Raiden, sending him flying back a few feet back.

Raiden narrowed his eyes at the crowd of sentimentality before him. "It seems we have reached an impasse, young Kubo. We will have to settle this in a different time."

"There is no different time for you!" Kubo exclaimed, ready to play another magical note. "Your story has concluded!"

"That is where I disagree." Too quick for Kubo to react, Raiden let out a screech of dark magic, which surrounded Kubo, causing the young boy to cover his arms.

"What kind of magic is this?!" Kubo cried as nothing seemed to happen to him; caught off guard, the young boy seemed to disappear, to fall within the Earth below him. It seemed that Raiden had opened up a portal of some kind and flung Kubo inside.

"Worry not, young Kubo. We will meet again. But next time, you will not be so fortunate." The villagers, surprised at the boy's sudden disappearance, cowered before the Moon King, who began slowly advancing on the frightened populace.

* * *

Within the void that Kubo was flung into, the boy screamed a distorted, screech, as it seemed that his body was being stetched beyond his limits; the void itself appeared to be nothing but black and white colors, disorienting and hypnotizing, so to speak. Kubo could barely catch a glimpse of the light at the end of the void; where it would lead would remain to be seen...

* * *

 **There's my first draft, think I should go with this?**

 **Bonus points to anyone who can tell me what this is inspired by...**


	2. Ni

**Greetings everyone. Yes, I've decided to continue this story, because I felt far too inspired. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 _II. The Samurai called Kubo_

The city itself could only be described as a few words: unexplained, anachronistic, or even indecipherable.

On one hand, the surface held all of the classical features of an ancient road: dirt paths, trees from which blood red petals fell alongside, and onto, the dirt paths, wooden signs carved with the locations on them or even reminders of where one was carved, and even the buildings and other structures still consisted of wood and clay. However, these buildings only belied something that would also shape this city of unknown year: steam.

Steam erupted from everywhere; the machines that lie on the dirt paths blew steam all around, including a strange device that would let people cross a certain way by color: red would mean stop, green would mean go, and yellow would mean be cautious. This oddly enough even applied to the next phenomena that this strange setting was used to.

The skies of this place were inhabited by eccentric, rectangular shaped constructions that flew around by having steam ejected from the bottom, which would continue to maintain the rectangles' airborne nature. These rectangular boxes held people within them, sometimes one, but other times two or even more.

The skies of this setting is where a near blinding flash of light emerged; from the white light fell a familiar, young samurai boy.

Kubo felt the wind blowing his hair upward as he fell down to the earth before him. His eyes widened as he was falling from a great height, which must have been estimated to be hundreds of feet into the air. As he continued to fall, he was blind to one of the obstructions approaching from his left.

*SMACK*

The obstruction crashed into him on his side, the impact lessened due to the famous armor of his father, but send him crashing into yet another set of objects.

*CRASH*

*SMACK*

*CRASH*

Kubo continued to be crashed into and thrown across the sky until he managed to fall on the top of one of these odd machines. The young samurai groaned in pain and looked up to see one of the machines with a silver, cylindrical shaped attachment on the front, which spewed out light-based projectiles loudly. Kubo dodged the unexplained, nearly blinding projectiles until one of them grazed his arm.

"Aaah!" he screamed; he looked at his left arm where it struck, to see a cut of blood dripping. Narrowing his eyes, the samurai pulled out the Sword Unbreakable, ready to do battle with the machine. Dodging and deflecting more of the light projectiles, Kubo leaped toward it and slashed it with one swift motion, breaking it off the steam powered rectangle. This had the effect of sending the rectangle searing toward Kubo, who leaped downward onto another rectangle.

Kubo saw the two objects crash into each other and explode, giving him a sense of relief that maybe he would no longe-

*BANG*

His relief was broken as yet another object smashed into him, this time at his head, which was not as impacted thanks to the Helmet Invulnerable, but still managed to propel him downward, where his descent finally ended when he hit the hard, dirt ground.

Kubo could feel darkness clouding his one eye as the pain overwhelmed him, sending him into a state of unconsciousness...

* * *

Kubo rose back to consciousness, but this time, not in the same place as he fell; his gaze upward, he saw a ceiling of both wooden paneling and silver consistency, with bolts and nuts holding the silver portions of the ceiling in tact. He noticed that he was covered by a blanket, and that his armor was missing. Thankfully, he still had his shamisen and the Sword Unbreakable at the side.

But before he could get up and react to his new surroundings, he noticed a silver door opening, emitting steam as it did so. Through the threshold came a women with waist-length brown hair, brown eyes, and a blue kimono, holding what looked to be a bowl of soup.

"I see you're awake," the woman said. Kubo looked at her with his one eye in confusion.

"Where am I? What happened to my armor?" Kubo questioned.

"Is this how you normally wake up?" the woman asked, a tinge of sarcasm dripping in her tone. Then, she narrowed her eyes at him. "Who are you?"

"Not until you answer my question," Kubo reaffirmed.

The woman placed the soup in front of Kubo and sauntered off to a cabinet that was north of the young samurai; when she opened it, he saw his armor carefully placed away.

"Thank the heavens," Kubo whispered to himself. He looked down and grabbed the soup that was laid out in front of him, eating it swiftly.

"Now let me ask again: who are you?"

Kubo looked up at the woman, who had her arms crossed. "I am Kubo."

"Kaede," the woman replied, introducing herself. "You're not from around these parts, are you?"

Kubo stopped slurping and looked back at her. "What do mean 'these parts'? Where am I exactly?"

"Dear Kami-sama, you're really not from these parts," Kaede said. "This is Japan, my little amnesiac."

Kubo shook his head. "No. What I saw, whatever it was, was _not_ my homeland. This place...this is far different from what I know."

Kaede frowned and began to exit the door. "Seems like you're a little delirious. Finish up and we'll try to help you out, you hear?"

Before she could exit out of the room, Kubo blurted out "I appreciate what you have done, but I must ask: why did you bring me here?"

"It was not of my volition. If there's anyone to thank, it's my younger sister." With that, Kaede exited the room where Kubo resided.

As the young samurai was eating his food, he was still plagued with confusion about what had happened during his battle with Raiden. _What has happened? Where is my village, are they okay?_

* * *

Outside was covered with grass and a strip of dirt path that led to the wooden, but mechanical house. The land contained around 2 or 3 trees, two of them devoid of petals, but with one possessing red petals. The orange color of the sky was a reminder that it was nearing night time, with the sun halfway peeking out over the horizon.

There stood a young girl, about 12 years old, with her black hair in a braid, wearing a white and grey kimono; as she walked around, she was holding and blowing into a small, clay made instrument with twelve holes that, to some, resembled a fang. The instrument crooned out a tune that sounded soothing, like a gentle breeze passing through a tree.

The young girl heard the steam of the front door whistle and from the door emerged the samurai boy she witnessed the other day. She looked toward him as she continued playing the little fang instrument.

Kubo watched in slight amusement as he saw her playing the odd instrument. "I've never seen anything like that before," he commented, interrupting her playing. "Well I have, it's just that-"

"So you're the dude who was doing all that cool stuff!" she exclaimed, nearly jumping up and down. "I remember you came from outta nowhere, and then some other dude was all, 'I'm gonna shoot you' and you were all, 'huh, not today' and you pulled out that sword and you jumped and cut that light gun clean off that car! Oh man, it was so awesome!"

Kubo was slightly taken aback by the joyous display. "Uh, hehe, thanks, I guess."

"You probably met my sister already," the young girl began. "Don't worry about her, she can be all moody, broody, and down in the dumps at times. You get used to it."

"I see." Kubo looked at the instrument that now hung around her neck. "What is that little thing, anyway?"

"What, this?" she replied, grasping the object. "It's an ocarina. You've never seen one before."

"Not where I come from."

"Huh." A quick second later, she paced around the samurai noticed the shamisen he possessed. "Wow! You play that thing? So bomb!"

"'Bomb'?" Kubo questioned, unfamiliar with the term.

"You know, cool, or, awesome, or amazing."

"Alright then." Kubo took a deep breath and knelt down in acknowledgement. "My name is Kubo, and I give a thousand thanks to you."

The young girl was shocked at the submissive display. "Whoa, dude? What are you doing?"

"Is this not the usual custom of giving gratitude?"

"A simple 'thank you' ought to do it. Now stand back up," the young girl replied. Kubo stood back up and dusted himself off. "Oh, gomen nasai, uh, I never told you my name. I'm Amaterasu."

Kubo's eyes widened at the introduction. "Like the sun goddess?"

"Something like that," she said, mischief in her tone. "You wanna give thanks? Show me if you can play that thing."

Kubo unloaded his shamisen and started playing a few notes; the notes he played impressed Amaterasu, and she quickly noticed that the red petals falling from the trees began swirling and dancing around Kubo, bringing a sense of wonder to her.

"That is so cool!" Amaterasu commented, a big smile on her face.

"And that's not even the least of it," Kubo replied, a hint of amusement in his tone.

* * *

In an unknown location, a dark figure wearing a mask that only smiled looked down at the scene before her. "So, it seems father was right when he said you would return." The figure's hushed laughs that rang out were ominous...

* * *

 **And there's the second chapter; we now have two other characters in the mix. This fic is gonna take some time, just like the show that inspired it.**

 **Read and Review.**


	3. San

**I know, I've been gone for a while, but that was due to Christmas and other things going on. Anyways, enjoy this new chapter.**

* * *

 _III. The Kunoichi and the Shrine Maiden_

Nightfall.

The time between sunset and the next sunrise. A time period enveloped in complete darkness, sometimes accompanied by cold air. As it stood right now, it was dark, and the air from outside was indeed cold. However, if one were to look up in the skies, they would be greeted with the sight of a very large moon; the moon, majestic in its simple spherical appearance, radiated a powerful, blue light to the eyes of those who reside on Earth, and possibly to any other planets close by. But our focus is not on the moon in all of its quiet glory.

Our focus is on the inside of the house that our hero is currently inside, grateful to have been found by two passers-by. Currently, Kubo and the younger girl, Amaterasu, were sitting at a wooden table, with Kubo making the little origami papers he possessed come to life and dance on the table.

"Whoa, that is just...outta this world!" Amaterasu cheered as Kubo plucked at his shamisen. She then looked at the samurai. "What are you?"

"Where I come from, I used to tell stories to my village, just like this," Kubo told her, motioning to his shamisen and the dancing papers. "Everyone would always gather around, just to see my origami come to life and act. But now-" Kubo paused before his face became questioning, "Speaking of my village, um, where exactly am I? This isn't the land that I remember."

"I already told you that, but to me, it looks like you're not even from this century," Amaterasu replied, glancing at the robes Kubo wore. "You look like you belong from somewhere way back."

" 'This century?' " Kubo repeated. "Wait, what year is it, Amaterasu-san?"

"2317," she answered.

"So the question is not 'where am I', it's 'when'."

"That isn't the only question." The two kids turned to the right where they saw Kaede, a serious expression adorned on her face. "I see you've met my little sister."

Kubo smiled. "Yeah. You know, the music you have is way different than the music from my time."

Kaede sat down in front of Kubo. "Listen here, I want answers and I want them now! No one simply falls from the sky like you did the other day, and no one has what's in that closet either. Talk!" She emphasized her demand by pointing at Kubo.

"Kaede-nee-san, lay off of him, will you?" Amaterasu defended, "You're treating him like some kind of-"

"We don't know what he is, sister. For all I know, he could be plotting to kill us or something!"

Kubo sighed; normally, he would object to being so harshly interrogated like this, but considering the circumstances, he felt that they were both owed an explanation. "Very well, then." With his shamisen with him, Kubo began with "If you must blink, do it now! Pay careful attention to everything you see and hear, no matter-"

"Get to the point, please," Kaede interrupted, with a scowl and irritation dripping with every word she said.

Kubo rolled his eyes and decided to skip his usual intro. As he continued playing his shamisen, the origami figures came to life, one in the form of Kubo himself, and another in the form of a dragon. "In my time, there was a terrible being called Raiden, the Moon King, who was as cruel as they come. One day, he arrived to terrorize my village, and only I had the power to stop him. With the Sword Unbreakable, we fought viciously until I realized that simply killing him would not solve the issue. He had to be redeemed." The origami figures acted out all that Kubo described; the little figures even jumped up and all around, mimicking the battle in question.

"As I prepared to show Raiden the error of his ways, something happened, a trick of sorcery; and before I knew it, I was sucked into some void that led me to here, where we sit and talk." Kubo set his shamisen down on the table. "That's only a part of it, though."

"So you _are_ a real samurai!" Amaterasu responded, prompting Kubo to nod. "This is crazy! A real life samurai boy transported to the future by a god."

Kubo chuckled nervously. "I guess when you put it like that, it does sound crazy."

Kaede shook her head and scoffed. "Please, you expect me to believe that load of nonsense. It would make just as much sense if you told us that you possess some magical power in your little guitar thing."

"I can assure you, Kaede-san, that my _shamisen_ , as it is correctly called, is not playing tricks on you. And neither am I," the samurai reassured calmly.

"I just think that maybe you hit your head too hard on the sidewalk, samurai boy," the older sister snapped derisively.

"Nee-san," Amaterasu began, "you saw his story play out in front of you. I don't think Kubo here has a reason to lie."

Kaede shook her head at Amaterasu. "Oh, my gullible little sister..."

"What? It all sounds kinda...maybe...sorta...it sounds cool! And besides, Kaede, after seeing little papers dance to guitar-"

"-shamisen," Kubo corrected.

"Wh-whatever. After seeing that, does falling out of sky because of a god sound too wacko?!"

"By the heavens, you're serious." Kaede pinched the bridge of her nose. "What _everyone_ knows from the history books is that Raiden-sama was a misunderstood being who took vengeance on those, particularly the samurai, who mocked and didn't believe in him."

"No!" Kubo exclaimed, banging his fist on the table. He then took a breath to calm himself. "No, it's not true. He's lied to all of you! I can't believe this, he-"

"Look, I'd love to stay and stew in your delusions with you, but I need to know if you'll be gone by tomorrow, alright?" Kaede interrupted.

Kubo narrowed his one eye at her. "I should have guessed demons and the like wouldn't be real in this time."

"Oh they're real, there's no doubt about that." The older sister crossed her arms. "But your story? Too outlandish for my tastes."

"Fine, you don't have to believe me," Kubo said. "I just-I really need some help." Kaede, unfazed by his solemn declaration, got up from the table and exited the living room through the steam-powered metal door.

Amaterasu turned her head toward Kubo and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "What'd I tell you? A total downer, right?"

"I heard that!" Kaede called from the other room.

Amaterasu stuck her tongue out at the door Kaede exited through. Kubo chuckled at the childish display.

"You two really are the closest of siblings, arent' you?" he quipped.

"You couldn't tell?" she quipped back with a smile, which quickly faded. "You have to forgive her, she's been through a lot."

Kubo shrugged. "It's fine, Amaterasu-san-"

"Rasu."

"Excuse me?"

"You can call me Rasu. Doesn't sound too formal and uptight," the newly named Rasu clarified.

"Alright then. Like I said, your sister kinda reminds me of someone from my time," Kubo continued.

"Was she uptight with a stick up her butt?"

"Like you wouldn't believe," Kubo commented, smiling at the memory of Monkey. "She'd always be so serious and I'd be like 'are you ever encouraging' and she'd be all 'I encourage you not to die'." At the last line, Kubo deepened his voice to sound more like Monkey, prompting laughter from Rasu.

"D-did she reallly-hahaha!-wow, that sounds just like Kaede-nee-san! Heeheehee!"

"I don't normally like mocking people, but she was just too easy to fluster, it's just hilarious."

After laughing at Kubo's further impressions, Rasu showed Kubo another song on her ocarina; as he watched her move around the open space while playing, to Kubo, he hadn't heard of much of a sound like the wind instrument all too often, but hearing it from Rasu brought a feeling of enjoyment and protection, much like how his shamisen gave him a sense of power and relief. He briefly wondered whether or not Rasu was given her music by someone, a guardian or whomever, who had recently moved on, similar to his mother.

When Rasu stopped playing, she looked to the left at a box under an inn table. "Hey samurai boy, wanna see something awesome?" She moved toward the inn table and pulled the box out from underneath. When Kubo looked inside, his eyebrows scrunched together. "Hmm, ofuda," he commented before he looked back up at Rasu. "Are you a priestess?"

"A training one at least," Rasu said. "The elders gave all of us boxes of these so that when evil comes, we'll kick its ass to oblivion!" At her swear, Rasu covered her mouth quickly. "Sorry for the swear."

If Kubo was offended, he didn't show it. "In my time, Raiden said that there's no way that mere mortals would be able to do battle with demons or gods. How wrong he was."

"You know," Rasu began, "you told the story and all, but it sounds like you personally know him."

Kubo sighed at the implication. "It's a very long story, Rasu. One that couldn't possib-" Before he could finish his statement, all the power and the lights in the house went out, leaving them in total darkness. "What was that?"

"It's just the lights, something's probably wrong with the circuit breaker."

"Cir-cuit breaker?" Kubo pronounced slowly, utterly confused.

"You got a lot to learn, samurai boy." The two kids decided to go outside to see what was wrong. They moved out of the front door and turned to the right, which led them to the back of the house, where Rasu motioned to a dark box with all kinds of switches on it.

"Pretty strange looking, don'tcha think?" Kubo commented.

Rasu waved her hand dismissively. "Ah, this is nothing. You should see some of the other stuff out there." She pressed the one switched which was colored differently from the others, red to be precise. "There we go. No trouble."

"It would be so much easier to use lanterns," Kubo mumbled to himself. As the two kids were going back to the front door, an odd aroma danced around in the air; it was thick, billowy, and unpleasant to their sense of smell.

"Is someone smoking?" Rasu asked, genuinely confused; if it was Kaede, then there's one thing new she discovered about her sister. Kubo also took a whiff of the air, but noticed that the trail of smoke led to a giant cloud 20 feet away from the house, and it looked like it was stalking closer and closer.

'No. No, it can't be!' Kubo thought in horror. He quickly ran past Rasu and back inside the house, where he went to the room where he was recovering. He grabbed the Sword Unbreakable from the bed and grabbed the mystical armor from the closet nearest to him.

As he was putting on the armor, Rasu caught up to him. "Hey, what's going on? Why the rush?"

"There's danger coming," Kubo said as he put on the Helmet Invulnerable. Rasu saw the samurai's armor glow a golden color, her eyes widening at the sight. "I know you'd want an explanation, but there's no time. If you see me in trouble, get your ofuda and come outside!"

"K-kubo-"

"Just do it!" the samurai ordered. He moved past her once again and out to the front door, his right hand clenched on the Sword Unbreakable's hilt; he watched as the cloud of smoke gained closer and closer, and stopped to the point where it was 10 feet in front of him. The cloud of smoke gathered itself together to form the shape of a person with a large, straw hat topping it off. When the smoke materialized, the form was female, with a perpetually smiling mask, and a cape of feathers. The woman, Kubo noticed, held a brown, lit stick between her lips, which she removed with her right index and middle fingers.

"Hahahaha! Isn't this a surprise," the woman laughed, the sound cold and echoing. "I never thought I'd see you again after so long, little nephew."

Kubo narrowed his eyes and unsheathed the mystical sword. "How have you returned, Yukami?!" he demanded fiercely, attempting to cover his own anxiety. "I-I watched you get vaporized by-"

"Did you really think you'd be rid of us forever?" the aforementioned spirit said, cruel amusement in her tone. She took another puff of the brown stick. "Even your pathetic mother knew she couldn't really kill us."

"Enough!" Kubo shouted. "Now tell me, how do I get back to my own time!"

"But Kubo," Yukami began, "we haven't become reacquainted yet." The smoke she blew from the brown stick began dancing around the young samurai's legs; knowing from prior experience, Kubo jumped away from the smoke before it could envelop him. "I see you've learned from your mistakes. No matter..." Yukami unsheathed her own twin swords and lunged at Kubo.

*SHINK*

*SHINK*

*SHINK*

Kubo and his aunt made battle; Yukami attempted to strike him in a diagonal pattern but Kubo was barely able to block it. Kubo retaliated by rolling at the side to try and slice the spirit from there, but Yukami floated upward before lunging at him again, but this time, she moved like a drill and her strikes were rapid-fire. Kubo managed to block a few of the swipes before being nicked in his left forearm by her right twin sword.

"AAHH!" Kubo shouted in pain.

"Still inexperienced, I see." Yukami side-kicked him in the face, sending Kubo flying back a few feet; luckily, he didn't drop the Sword Unbreakable as he tumbled down and skidded on the ground. He quickly got back up and ran at her, but before he could make it, he was enveloped by the smoke and immobilized.

Kubo struggled to get out of the smoke's grasp, but it was too difficult to do so. "Hahahaha!" Yukami laughed as she floated in front of her nephew. "This is just like the days of old, wouldn't you say?"

Kubo scowled at her with his one eye. "Raiden knew I'd be here, didn't he?"

"Oh of course. After all, father knows all." His evil aunt raised one of her swords and prepared to strike Kubo down; the samurai still tried to reach his magical sword until-

*THWACK*

*THWACK*

*THWACK*

Yukami saw three arrows with paper talismans on them embedded into the space between herself and Kubo. Kubo looked up and saw a dark figure jump from the roof of the house and spin-kick as she descended, sending Yukami flying away and releasing Kubo from the smoke's hold. The samurai saw a woman with brown hair, a navy blue leotard, a scarf that covered the lower half of her face, a sash around her hip with ofuda, and holding a ninjato in her right hand.

"You good, kid?" the woman said.

Kubo looked shocked at the voice. "Kaede-san?"

"Yep. That lady a friend of yours?" she snarked.

"She is _not_ my friend, trust me," Kubo retorted.

Yukami stalked back toward the two. "Isn't this adorable? You have little bodyguards to come save you."

"Piss off," Kaede commented. She then leaped toward the spirit and struck at her with her ninjato, flipping with a motion similar to a hamster wheel. Yukami blocked the onslaught of sword and when Kaede stopped, she moved quickly to try and gut her; Kaede swiped at Yukami's head, to which the spirit barely dodged, losing a few strands of hair in the process. Before she could strike again, Kaede started throwing sharp, metal stars with ofuda attached at her.

"Impressive," Yukami said as she dodged the incoming stars. However, one of the stars clipped her in the shoulder, which made Yukami shout in pain.

"How?! How can mortal weapons-"

"Not so strong after all, are you?" Kaede taunted, smirking behind her mask. Fed up with this distraction, Yukami used her telekinesis to launch Kaede at a tree, which sent the woman into near unconsciousness. She saw Kubo attempt to swipe at her, only to stop him dead in his tracks by making a fist and making him lose his breath.

"I grow tired of this. Now, come with your aunty, Kubo..."

Before Yukami could take Kubo, she heard the sound of a wind instrument playing.

Rasu slowly stepped forward, playing her ocarina, the music of which began bathing her in a bright, nearly blinding, golden light; it was as if the sun itself was walking on the face of the Earth. As she continued playing, a ray of light hit Yukami, enveloping and trapping her similar to how the smoke trapped Kubo.

"What is this?!" Yukami shouted, fury within her tone.

Rasu continued moving forward. " _Vile demon! You tamper with forces you could not hope to understand. You overstep your boundaries. Your cruelty that knows no limits must be stopped! This ends now!"_

Kubo was utterly flabbergasted at the display Rasu was showing; her voice...it sounded like Yukami's, echoing, but it also possessed the sound not of a demon, but of a much higher god. He stepped up and moved toward her. "Rasu! Wait, I need to ask her something!"

The powered younger sister looked at the samurai. " _What could this...foul witch possibly give you, Kubo-san?_ "

Kubo turned toward his aunt. "I'm gonna ask you again: how do I get back to my time?"

Yukami stopped struggling in the lights grasp and laughed. "Don't you know? There is no going back for you."

"That can't be true!"

" _She is tricking you, Kubo,_ " Rasu reassured him. " _The demon will always lie. But it will mix lies with the truth, and that's how it deceives you._ "

Kaede, still down near the tree, sat up and witnessed the scene before her. "Amaterasu!" she called out. "What are you doing?!" Her voice was frantic with concern for the younger sister.

The sound of her older sister's voice brought Rasu a distraction, which caused the blinding light to dim; Yukami, seeing this as her time to escape, puffed into a cloud of her own smoke and vanished, her cold, cruel laughter filling the air.

Rasu played a note that made her cease to glow the light, and brought her back to reality. "Nee-sama!" she exclaimed, running toward her older sister and hugging her tightly.

Kubo also ran toward the two sisters, who looked up at him with inquisitive expressions. "One question," the samurai laid out.

"Who the hell was that woman?" Kaede said.

"That question's gonna take too long to answer. Now here's my question: why'd you save me?"

Kaede lowered her mask. "We ninja are not without honor. Although I saved you at the beckoning of my sister, I will now stand by your side when danger is afoot. Plus, maybe you are telling the truth. In that case, we both want to help you get to your home."

"I see," Kubo began, "I give a thousand thanks to you, Kaede-san."

"I don't know about you guys, but...THAT WAS TOTALLY WICKED!" Rasu cheered, throwing a fist in the air. "Kubo was all like, 'I'm an awesome samurai, no one messes with me', and then that swordfight, and then nee-chan was all 'I'm gonna go ninja on you' and...gaah, so cool!"

Kaede smiled at her younger sister. "Oh, Rasu..."

* * *

 **In an Unknown Tower**

The Moon King himself was sitting on his blue throne and watched the entire debacle between the three friends and Yukami unfold. "As I said those many years ago, we would meet again, grandson. But do not get comfortable; your friends will not be able to save you from me. Just you wait...

* * *

 **The Home of Kaede**

Kubo was walking out of his room to get a drink of water when he noticed Rasu, clad in her priestess outfit, kneeling in prayer; she was surrounded by lit candles, and thin sticks which emitted an equally as thin vapor. He moved toward her and sat on her right side.

"To any gods and goddesses out there, I beseech you," Rasu began. Kubo also got in the prayer position out of respect. "My family has encountered a great evil, and I know that it will not stop until it breaks our spirits and vanquishes us, so I ask you, please o please, guide us to the path of the light, and give us the strength to overcome any obstacles in our way. We cannot possibly hope to beat out evil without your help."

A few moments of silence passed before the two kids opened their eyes and looked at each other. "Nee-sama told me that we cannot stay here for any longer," Rasu said. "She says that the demons know where we live now, and we must travel to get away."

"This is all my fault," Kubo replied, regret in his voice. "I didn't want to drag any of you into this."

Rasu cocked her head to the right. "Don't get so down on yourself, samurai boy. I kinda wanted to move away also."

"But I feel that I must repay you and your sister in some way."

"You wanna repay us? Then let us fight with you," Rasu declared. She smiled at the samurai next to her. "Don't worry, me and Kaede are gonna get you back to your home."

Kubo flashed a tiny smile at her. "I sure hope so."

* * *

 _ **Gotta go back**_

 _ **Back to the past**_

 **I've decided to retitle this fic as 'Ronin'. Read and Review!**


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